Dr. Juliet Burke (née Carlson) was a medical fertility specialist who was recruited to the Island by Richard Alpert. On the Island, she tried to solve the fertility problems, but was unsuccessful. She had an affair with Goodwin, until a jealous Ben sent him to the Tailies, where one of them killed him.

Knowing their cover was blown, Juliet helped Jack with his plan to change the past. As she, Sawyer, Kate and Miles aided Jack at the Swan site; she got pulled into the shaft. Down the shaft, she noticed the bomb, and in a desperate attempt to save everyone's lives, she detonated it. The explosion sent the survivors to 2007, where Sawyer tried to save her, but was unsuccessful, and she died in his arms. With Miles Straume acting as a medium over her grave, she told Sawyer "It worked", although Sawyer didn't know what she meant by this.

In the flash-sideways, she was reunited with her lover, James Ford and along with their friends, they moved on.

Contents

Before the crash

Childhood

Juliet's family moved frequently. Her parents divorced when Juliet was a child due to difficulties, which her older sister Rachel noticed. The divorce affected Juliet, particularly her outlook on relationships. ("The Incident, Part 2")

Medical career

Juliet received a medical degree after college, specializing in obstetrics and fertility. She may also have had a higher degree in medical research. She married Edmund Burke, and though they split up, he continued to control her. She worked under his tight control at the Miami Central University Medical Research Laboratory, where he flaunted his affairs with coworkers in front of her. She even managed to impregnate a male mouse, though it didn't carry to term. She conducted her most important research though in private on Rachel, whose cancer treatment had left her infertile. With Juliet's help, Rachel conceived. Juliet did not publish this research to maintain her sister's privacy. Rachel would later go on to have a baby boy, and named him Julian, after her sister.

Richard Alpert approached her with a job offer from Mittelos Bioscience. The opportunity intrigued her, and one particular medical puzzle, a young woman whose uterus looked 70 years old, convinced her she wanted to accept. But Edmund would object unless, she joked, a bus hit him. A bus did hit him soon after, right as he confronted her about Rachel. Richard and his associate then successfully recruited her, promising to return her in time for Rachel's delivery. The job turned out to be "not quite in Portland" though, and she had to take a submarine, tranquilized, to get there - to the Island. ("Not in Portland") ("One of Us")

On the Island

Juliet's early attempts to save the island's pregnant women failed. While crying after the death of one of the women, she met Goodwin, a worker at The Tempest station, and treated him for chemical burns. He comforted her after the death of a second woman as well, and eventually the two began a relationship.

Soon after arriving on the island, Juliet began seeing a therapist named Harper Stanhope, who also happened to be Goodwin's wife. During one session, Harper revealed to Juliet that she knew of her affair with Goodwin. She warned Juliet to stop the affair, stating that she was worried about what would happen to Goodwin if Ben found out.

Harper's concern, it turned out, was warranted. Ben had quickly become obsessed with Juliet, associating her with his mother. He was there to meet her on the dock when she first arrived to the island and gave her her own house within a week. Juliet asked several times to be let off the island, but every time Ben refused, even after the initial six months Juliet agreed to passed. In order to get her to stay, Ben told her that her sister's cancer had returned. He promised Rachel's cancer would be cured if Juliet continued her work on the island.

Three years later, however, Ben himself was diagnosed with cancer, which convinced Juliet he'd lied about being able to cure Rachel. She prepared to share his x-rays with a friend, but her book club's arrival interrupted them. The club discussed her favorite book, one Ben didn't like, but the group dispersed when a plane crashed on the island. ("One of Us") ("The Other Woman") ("The Envelope")("A Tale of Two Cities")

After the crash

Just moments after seeing the plane break up mid-air, Ben sent Goodwin to infiltrate the camp of the tail-section survivors, and Harper and Juliet exchanged glances. Ben then took Juliet to the Flame and showed her live footage of Rachel, alive and healthy, with her toddler son. Juliet was overjoyed and again asked to return home, but Ben said she must stay for future research. Later on, he invited her over for a private dinner and tried to turn her off Goodwin by suggesting he'd grown close to one of the survivors. Sometime later, Juliet showed him a file on a spinal surgeon from the plane. But instead of reacting positively to this news, Ben took her to a hillside to see Goodwin's corpse. Juliet accused Ben of deliberately sending Goodwin on a suicide mission, which Ben did not deny, suggesting that he had known about their affair; he claimed Juliet as his own. Despite the awkwardness between them, they continued to work together. They went to the Pearl to spy on survivors in the Swan, and Ben confided in Juliet his plan to kidnap Jack, Kate and Sawyer. ("The Other Woman") ("One of Us") ("Exposé")

Juliet helped take care of twochildren that the Others kidnapped. She also oversaw Walt's care after they kidnapped him, and when she noticed his odd abilities, she suggested they return him to Michael. Later, when they kidnapped Michael too, she told him Walt was "special" and that they'd return him and give Michael a boat. She told Michael about her own deal with Ben, concerning her sister. She compares her situation to Michael's, as they would both do anything to save their family.("Room 23") ("The Deal")

Days 68–91 (Season 3)

The Others kidnapped Jack, Kate and Sawyer. Juliet oversaw Kate and Sawyer's manual labor, holding a gun to Kate when Sawyer tried escaping. Ben exploited Juliet's resemblance to Jack's ex-wife, telling her to visit, feed, and grow close to him. Despite this, Jack attacked her, opening one of the underwater cell's hatches against her warning. The corridor flooded, and Ben locked them inside to drown. They escaped though, and Juliet kept visiting her prisoner despite his assault on her. Jack referenced Ben's authority over her, and, perhaps piqued by this suggestion, Juliet freed him to operate on an injured Other. Juliet, who was not a surgeon, could not save her alone. ("The Glass Ballerina") ("A Tale of Two Cities") ("Every Man for Himself")

The patient died despite Jack's efforts, but he saw Ben's X-rays in the operating room. At the funeral, Ben confronted Juliet about her oversight. He made her ask Jack to operate on him, but she secretly played a video in which she asked him to kill Ben during surgery. To persuade him, she threatened to kill Sawyer and made Kate tell Jack. Jack slit Ben's kidney sac in surgery, but rather than kill him, he revealed Juliet's plan and blackmailed the Others into freeing Kate and Sawyer. ("Every Man for Himself") ("The Cost of Living") ("I Do")

Juliet called his bluff, saying he wouldn't deliberately let a patient die. She ordered the Others to capture Kate and Sawyer and kill them if necessary. She changed her attitude, however, after Ben privately told her he would let her leave the Island if she helped them escape. She caught up with them, and she killed Pickett when he refused to let them go. She let Kate call Jack to confirm their safety and let them row to the main island, but she told Ben's daughter, who had helped them, that she had to stay behind. The Others imprisoned Juliet for Pickett's murder. She later visited Jack, who refused her request to examine the infection that had developed around Ben's stitches. Jack testified for Juliet in front of the Others' sheriff, who saw through his lies and sentenced Juliet to death. Jack then made a deal with Ben that he would treat the infection if he would commute Juliet's sentence; the Others then marked her as punishment. Jack treated her wound with an aloe plant, and they sailed with the Others to the Barracks.("Not in Portland") ("Stranger in a Strange Land")

True to his word, Ben arranged Jack and Juliet's passage on the submarine, but hours before their departure, Locke, Sayid and Kate arrived to save Jack, and Locke destroyed the submarine with C-4. Ben then gave Juliet a mission: enter the survivors' camp, help Claire after her implant activated symptoms, gain their trust, and help the Others kidnap their pregnant women. The Others gassed the camp and left, and Juliet handcuffed herself to Kate and pretended that she too had been left behind. Kate attacked her and dislocated her arm. The Monster then chased them into some trees, and it "scanned" them. Juliet claimed not to know what it was, but the next day, she repelled it with the sonic barrier. They freed Jack and Sayid at the Barracks. Kate and Sayid objected to bringing Juliet to their camp, but Jack was adamant that she join them, stating that she was under his "protection." ("The Man from Tallahassee") ("Left Behind")

The camp treated Juliet with suspicion; she only spoke with Hurley, whom the camp chose to watch her. When Ben activated Claire's implant, Juliet blamed withdrawal from a drug she'd developed. She left to recover the medicine from a supposed cache, and Sayid and Sawyer accosted her on the way about her intentions. She used backgroundknowledge of them to assert moral superiority. She feigned treating Claire with the supplies, and Jack helped her set up a tent. One night, Juliet compelled Sun, who was pregnant, to go with her to the Staff for a sonogram. She learned Sun had conceived on the Island and would die like the last nine expectant mothers she'd examined. She secretly recorded a tape for Ben about Sun's condition, also noting that she'd sample Kate's blood next. But after she switched the tape off, she added, "I hate you," and she soon confided fully in Jack. The two recruited Danielle to fetch dynamite to fight the Others. ("One of Us") ("D.O.C.") ("Operation: Sleeper")

Juliet reveals her knowledge about the signal being jammed. ("Greatest Hits")

Later, Kate told Jack about a woman's arrival to the island, and Juliet suggested they tell her Ben's plan. Jack refused. ("The Brig") Sawyer, who had obtained a copy of the tape from Locke, tried to out Juliet as a spy, but she played its other side, revealing Ben's full plan. She and Jack then shared their own plan to the survivors. Sayid wanted to use Naomi's phone to call her boat, and Juliet explained that the Looking Glass jammed all signals. She started toward the radio tower with Jack to turn off the distress signal, then split to join Sawyer as he went back to the beach to help Sayid, Bernard and Jin. Hiding at the beach, Juliet and Sawyer tried to form a plan, but Hurley intervened with the DHARMA van. Juliet then turned a gun on Tom, who surrenders before being killed by Sawyer. ("The Man Behind the Curtain") ("Greatest Hits") ("Through the Looking Glass")

Days 91–100 (Season 4)

With Sayid, Bernard and Jin safe, Juliet began digging graves for her former comrades. After Desmond returns from the Looking Glass with worrying news about their rescuers, Juliet armed herself and left for the radio tower to warn Jack. They met, the survivors divided, and Juliet returned to the beach. When Jack took long following them though, she and Sayid ventured into the jungle and disarmed Daniel and Miles, who were holding Jack and Kate hostage. They found the helicopter's pilot, who realized she wasn't a Flight 815 passenger as Juliet tended to his wounds. After Sayid found a photo of Desmond in Naomi's backpack, and Juliet retrieved him from the beach, and then returned to the beach again. ("The Beginning of the End") ("Confirmed Dead")("The Economist") ("Eggtown")

The next day, Juliet questioned Charlotte about how long the helicopter had been gone, suspicious about how she and Daniel did not seem worried. Charlotte and Daniel vanished that night, and Harper appeared, telling Juliet to stop them from releasing the Tempest's gas. Juliet took Jack along, but when they found a knocked-out Kate, Juliet used fetching water as an excuse to go off alone. At the Tempest, Daniel claimed they were disabling the gas, not releasing it. Charlotte attacked her, and though Juliet got the upper hand, she convinced her to let them continue their work. Outside, Juliet defended Charlotte from Kate's attacks. Then alone with Jack, Juliet warned him to stay away from her when Ben won his war against the freighties. Unafraid, Jack kissed her and said Ben knew where to find him. ("The Constant") ("The Other Woman")

Later on at the beach camp, Juliet found Sun rifling through her medical kit and surmised that she was going on a trip to Locke's group in the Barracks. She urged her to stay, reminding her she would die if she remained on the Island. When this did not convince her, she revealed Sun's affair to Jin. Sun slapped her. Her goal of preventing Sun's departure accomplished, Juliet apologized. ("Ji Yeon")

The next day, a body swept ashore, worrying Juliet. The day after, she diagnoses Jack with appendicitis, and they agreed on immediate surgery. She sent Sun, Jin, Daniel and Charlotte to gather surgical instruments from the Staff. She agreed with Jack's demands to stay awake during the surgery and for Kate to assist, but when the pain became too great for him to bear, Juliet ordered for Jack to be knocked out. Afterward, knowing Jack could hear, she told Kate that Jack had kissed her, but he did so to falsely convince himself that he didn't love someone else. ("The Shape of Things to Come") ("Something Nice Back Home")

That night, Juliet scolded Jack for being on his feet so soon after surgery, and she implored him not to follow the helicopter when it returned. Jack left nonetheless. Sayid soon arrived in a raft, and when Daniel began ferrying people to the freighter, Juliet insisted pregnant Sun be one of the first. Juliet thanked Daniel and promised that she would stay until everyone else had made it off. Later, when the freighter exploded, Juliet sat alone on the beach and drank rum. Sawyer, who had jumped off the helicopter earlier, swam ashore and joined her. She pointed out the smoking wreck to him. They were both still sitting on the beach when Ben moved the Island. ("Cabin Fever") ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 1") ("There's No Place Like Home, Parts 2 & 3")

Season 5

Time flashes

Juliet and Sawyer noticed the Kahana had disappeared completely. A frantic Rose and Bernard then told them that the beach camp had disappeared too — they were sporadically traveling through time, said Daniel. Juliet suggested checking the Swan station's condition to check the date, and they found it intact, meaning they were sometime between 2001 and 2004. Not long after, there was another time flash, this time to 1954. They returned to the beach, where Juliet found the Zodiac raft, but Daniel refused her suggestion to board it. That night, an unknown group fired flaming arrows at the camp. Juliet escaped, nearly being shot herself as she tried to save a wounded survivor. Sawyer and Juliet searched the jungle for other survivors, but were soon captured by a a group led by a young Widmore. They nearly amputated Juliet's hand, but Locke arrived on the scene and saved her. The gang began speaking in Latin, and Juliet realized they were Others. She asked to see "Ricardus", and though Widmore broke his partner's neck and fled, Locke led them to their camp. There, they freed a captured Daniel and experienced yet another time flash. ("Because You Left") ("The Lie") ("Jughead")

Charlotte fainted with a nosebleed, and Juliet examined her and questioned Daniel. They returned to the beach and found a pair of canoes, boarding one to travel to the Orchid. While they paddled, Juliet talked to Sawyer about him seeing Kate during a flash earlier. Then paddlers in another canoe began shooting at them, and Juliet returned fire until another time flash takes them to 1988. Juliet's nose began to bleed. The shifts came more frequently, but they reached the Orchid, and Juliet marveled that they'd arrived when at a time when it existed. But she spoke too soon, and time shifted again, a well in the place where the station had been. As Locke descended, Juliet thanked him, and when time shifted yet again, seemingly burying him, she had to hold back Sawyer from digging him out. ("The Little Prince") ("This Place Is Death")

With DHARMA (1974–1977)

Juliet consoled Daniel after Charlotte died from experiencing too many time flashes. When Sawyer suggested that they return to the beach, Juliet backed him up even though she thought it was a "stupid idea," because "any plan is better than no plan." The group later stumbled upon two Hostiles holding a woman captive. When the Hostiles attacked an intervening Sawyer, Juliet shot one of them. The captive took the group back to the Barracks, where the DHARMA Initiative offered to send them back to the mainland either the next day or in two weeks. Juliet wanted to leave immediately, having tried to leave the Island for three years, but Sawyer convinced her to stay for another two weeks. She ended up staying for three years, eventually moving in with Sawyer. She worked as a mechanic, but was recruited by Sawyer one day to deliver Amy's baby. ("LaFleur")

Their relaxed time together ended when Jack, Hurley and Kate returned to the Island. To cover up the truth about their time-traveling, Juliet added their names to a list of new recruits and helped Kate when an employee suspected her. Jack visited that night, discovering her and Sawyer's relationship, and she later discussed this relationship with Kate at the motor pool. ("Namaste")

Sayid had also returned to the Island, and when he shot young Ben, Juliet began operating, eventually turning to Jack for help. When he coldly refused, she tearfully blamed him for returning to the Island and disturbing their peaceful life, and was furious that he would not help a dying child. Knowing there was nothing else they could do for Ben, Juliet suggested to Kate that perhaps the Others could help him. Kate offered to take Ben to them, and Juliet persuaded Sawyer to help. When Roger Linus noticed his son was missing, she covered for Kate. Phil soon discovered their conspiracy, and Sawyer and Juliet had to bind and gag him. ("He's Our You")("Whatever Happened, Happened") ("Some Like It Hoth")

They explained the situation to Jack, and the survivors discussed options. Juliet and Sawyer, along with others, decided to start fresh at the beach, but she gave Kate the sonic fence's code so she could take Daniel to the Others to see his mother. A firefight brought security personnel to the house though, and Radzinsky discovered a tied-up Phil in the closet. Later, they interrogated Sawyer about where Kate had gone, and Phil hit Juliet to get Sawyer to talk. As compromise, Sawyer demanded passage off the Island. ("The Variable") ("Follow the Leader")

After they boarded the submarine, Kate arrived and convinced Juliet that they had to stop Jack from detonating the hydrogen bomb at the Swan site. Sawyer did not want to go back, but Juliet broke them out of their handcuffs and ordered the captain to surface. They rowed back to shore, where they encountered Rose, Bernard and Vincent. Juliet turned down their invitation to renounce their quest, and they went on, waylaying Jack and the others in the van on their way to the Swan. Juliet broke up a fight between Sawyer and Jack, but changed her mind about the bomb when she saw the way Sawyer looked at Kate. Though Juliet affirmed the love between her and Sawyer, she hoped that they would succeed in resetting time; that way, the plane would never have crashed on the Island, she would never have met Sawyer and would never have to lose him. She convinced Sawyer to follow through with the bomb detonation, and they covered Jack as he dropped the bomb down the Swan's shaft. The Incident began, and a metal chain dragged her down the shaft, despite Sawyer and Kate's efforts to pull her up. Despite being severely injured, Juliet used a rock to hit the bomb until it detonated. ("The Incident, Parts 1 & 2")

2007 (Season 6)

Following the detonation, Juliet and the survivors time-traveled to 2007. Juliet was still trapped in the shaft, under the remains of the 2004 Swan implosion. Kate heard her cries, and the group dug through the wreckage. Sawyer climbed down to find an extremely injured and weak Juliet, who told him, "It didn't work. We're still on the Island." Juliet mumbled about going out for coffee before asking Sawyer to kiss her. The two kissed and Juliet said, "I have to tell you something. It's really, really important." Before she could say what it was, Juliet died. ("LA X, Part 1")

Post-death

Desperate to find out what Juliet had to say before she died, Sawyer asked Miles for help while burying her. Miles revealed that Juliet's last thoughts were "It worked". Later that day after escaping from the Temple, Sawyer returned to the Barracks alone and retrieved an engagement ring from beneath the floorboards of their old house. Kate arrived, and they discussed Juliet, after which Sawyer threw the ring into the water. ("LA X, Part 2") ("What Kate Does")Jack told Hurley that his accidental role in Juliet's death convinced him to let go of things rather than try to fix them. He later apologized to Sawyer for killing her. ("Everybody Loves Hugo") ("The Last Recruit")

Flash sideways

In the flash sideways world, Juliet worked as a maternity doctor at St. Sebastian Hospital under her maiden name of "Carlson". She again worked alongside an ex-husband, but she shared a better relationship with Jack than she had with Edmund. The two had a son, David, who lived with Juliet and visited his father once a month.

Juliet performed an ultrasound on Sun-Hwa Paik, unknowingly waking her and her husband to their previous lives. She then met Jack in the hospital and collected concert tickets for herself, David and Claire. A page summoned her from the concert though, and she returned to the hospital to find James Ford fishing a candy bar from a vending machine. Juliet explained that unplugging the machine could release it, and once it did, she said "It worked" - her original dying words. The two remembered their life together as they touched, and they embraced. They reunited with the others from the Island in the church and sat together as a light flowed over them. ("The End")

Juliet is the only "Other" to actually refer to herself as an Other, usually in jest.

Juliet is the name of William Shakespeare's tragic heroine, who has a passionate love affair with Romeo, the son of a rival family. The hatred between the two families triggers a chain of events and misunderstandings. The story concludes when both Juliet and Romeo take their own lives due to complicated and secretive plans gone awry.

Both Juliet Burke and Shakespeare's Juliet appear to die twice.

Juliet's last name may refer to Risdeárd an Iarainn Burke, a Pirate in the Elizabethan Age, Husband to Grace O'Malley, who earned himself the name "Iron Chains", after wearing iron chains around his neck all the time. Likewise, Juliet dies when some chains fly through the air and pull her down the shaft during The Incident.

She is often featured bringing prisoners meals; she puts obvious effort into making them "nice."

She has some type of unarmed combat training, as seen when Jack, Kate, and Charlotte attack her.

She also demonstrates a very high proficiency in using firearms, both with handguns (when killing Danny Pickett), and with rifles (when shooting from the outrigger canoe in "The Little Prince").

In the Season 3 DVD, in the menu of disc 3 the movie that is shown to Jack that tells him to kill Ben is shown. The second last card that she holds up states: "For the record your wife is much prettier than me."

Juliet may have been named after member of crew, Julie Carlson, as Juliet's maiden name was Carlson.

Like all Others, Juliet speaks fluent Latin.

Elizabeth Mitchell plays a character called "Julia" in 2000 film Frequency. "Julia" is a nurse, similar to Juliet being a doctor, and the film involves time paradoxes. The film also has a character called Jack Shepard.

Juliet is one of only two main characters to die as a guest star instead of as a regular. The other is Christian Shephard.

Juliet is one of 22 main characters to have their names appear in a soundtrack title.

Juliet is one of the four main characters to die at a DHARMA station. The others are Ana Lucia, Libby and Charlie.

Last words: "I have to tell you something... It's really really important..."

Witnesses of her death: Sawyer

Resemblances

It has been noted several times in the series that Juliet bears "striking" physical resemblances to several other female characters.

In "The Cost of Living", Ben asks Jack if he realizes that Juliet looks like his ex-wife, Sarah Shephard, and hints that she may have been specifically selected as part of a plan to get Jack “invested” and agree to perform surgery on Ben.

In "The Other Woman", when Juliet mentions that Ben has been extremely nice to her, Harper Stanhope mutters “Of course he is, you look just like her.” It is not clear who Harper is referring to, it has been suggested that it is either Ben’s mother or his childhood friend Annie.

Additional casting

Young Juliet (age 10) is played by Rylee Fansler. The casting call described her as "Young Natalie. Caucasian. 10 year-old, blonde, blue-eyed. Strong personality and defiant. Her parents tell her they are divorcing, and Natalie becomes upset and strident. She doesn't want this to happen, and runs to her room crying."[1][2]